1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to flotation devices and more particularly to a positive acting mechanism for marking the location of a sunken vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The problems of monetary loss, locating and salvaging operations, time delays in boat racing events, and other problems associated with boating accidents which result in vessel sinkings are well known in the art, and several types of devices have been proposed for marking the location of a sunken vessel.
A first general type of automatic marker buoy release mechanism is operated when water comes in contact with a chemical compound that generates a gas that is used for inflation of a balloon-type marker buoy. In that boats by design are operated in a wet environment, water resulting from splashing, heavy seas, and the like, must be kept away from the chemical to prevent actuation of the mechanism in the absence of actual submergence. This is usually done by providing some sort of spring biased valve for closing the chamber in which the gas generating chemical compound is contained so that water is kept away from the chemical until the vessel is submerged far enough below the water's surface to achieve enough pressure to overcome the bias of the spring.
A second general type of automatically operated marker buoy release mechanism employs a water soluble link formed of, for example, soluble thermoplastic, which releases a spring-loaded linkage mechanism to pierce a gas cylinder when the link dissolves as a result of its coming in contact with water. As was the case with the above discussed gas generating mechanism, causal water resulting from splashing, rough seas, and the like, must be kept away from the soluble link to keep the mechanism from becoming activated in the absence of vessel sinking. Keeping causal water away from the soluble link can be accomplished in various ways such as by using, for example, a spring-loaded piston which normally holds the water inlet of the mechanism closed. Upon sinking of a vessel, the piston will remain closed until water pressure acting on the piston becomes great enough to overcome the spring bias applied to the piston. When the piston is moved as a result of water pressure, it will open the water inlet to the mechanism and thus allow water to come in contact with the soluble link.
Still another general type of automatically operated marker buoy release mechanism includes a spring-loaded diaphragm, or bellows, which reacts to water pressure, of sufficient quantity to overcome the spring bias, by moving to activate buoy releasing linkage assemblies.
The above described automatically operated marker buoy release mechanisms all have problems of one sort or another. All are relatively complex mechanisms, and, as is well known, as the complexity of mechanisms per se increases, the incidence of failure also increases. Another problem, which is worse in some types of mechanism than it is in others, is the time delay between vessel sinking and deployment of the marker buoy. Time delays may not be a problem in all cases of vessel sinkings, but it certainly creates problems in cases where time is of the essence such as in boat racing events. When an accident occurs in a boat race, the race must be suspended until such time as the wreckage is cleared from the course. If locating and salvaging of a sunken racing boat takes excessive time, spectator interest will wane and the boat racing events can be delayed far beyond the scheduled time. Another problem with the prior art mechanisms discussed above is that it is possible to lose a boat in relatively shallow water and not activate the marker buoy release mechanism due to a lack of sufficient water pressure needed to overcome the spring biasing forces.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and useful automatic marker buoy release mechanism which overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art.